African-American finds note with racial slur in Florida hotel room

Monday

Michael Davis found a note on a lamp in his family’s room that read, ‘You’re a n----r.’

SARASOTA, Fla. — For one family staying at a Sarasota hotel, the Fourth of July provided an experience that showed the nation still has not rid itself of the racial prejudice of its past.

Michael Davis found a note in his family’s room at Art Ovation Hotel that read, “You’re a n----r.”

The family went out to breakfast, and upon returning to the hotel room, Davis found the note on the lamp, written on the hotel’s stationery. He shared a photo of the sticky note on Instagram and Facebook, along with a caption detailing the event.

The post began, “In the year 2018, I do not understand how this can still be happening. My parents and I came back to our room today to find this note inside one of the lamps. We are disgusted. Racism still exists in 2018. Happy Fourth of July?”

Davis updated the post as time went by. He resorted to calling the police after the hotel’s management was unresponsive.

“The hotel manager … saying that he would ‘absolutely feel safe’ in this hotel after this happened showed an unbelievable lack of empathy,” read Davis’ post.

The general manager of the hotel is Matthew Simore, who later released this statement to ABC7 Sarasota:

“We apologize for this guest’s experience. We remain committed to providing an environment where all feel welcome. Allegations such as this are very concerning to us. The matter is being actively investigated and appropriate actions will be taken based on the findings. Hotel leadership has engaged with the guest and we have extended our apologies. In addition, the hotel will be reinforcing its sensitivity training with associates at all levels. Our corporate team has contacted the guest and apologized as well.”

Hotel staff on Sunday ordered a Herald-Tribune reporter to leave the property as she was trying to gather additional information.

Michael’s father, Frank Davis, is president and CEO of The Horizon Group, a technical services organization based in Birmingham, Alabama. He moved his family to a hotel in Clearwater because they did not feel safe at the Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota. The Davis family was on vacation from Atlanta.

Michael Davis’ post ended, “Update 5: Marriott has refunded the points we utilized for the stay and has refunded charges for food and beverages. However, we are still waiting to hear back on what Marriott will commit to with respect to their procedures for incidents like this, room security, and employee training.”

More than 100 comments on the Facebook post flowed in, supportive of the Davis family. Tanya Burley wrote, “I am so sorry. There are so many Sarasotans who apologize to you and your family. We are better than this ....”

Harp Char wrote, “... I will never stay at another Marriott hotel ever again until everyone involved at that hotel is fired and charged with a hate crime ....”

Frank Davis and his son thanked Facebook users for their support and noted that progress has been made in the U.S. with regard to racial injustice but said there is still a long way to go.